• Jesse Owens Olympic Oak Tree wins big

    PHOTO BY ERIK AULT Wednesday, October 12, 2022; Ceremony to plant a Jesse Owens Oak tree sapling to replace the original tree; James Ford Rhodes High School, 5100 Biddulph Road: Holden Forest and Gardens Tree Corps members planted a sapling propagated from one of four English oak trees given to Clevelander Jesse Owens upon winning…


  • Ray Petro, owner of Ray’s Indoor Bike Park, hosts “The Great Reveal”

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Friday, September 9, 2022; The Big Reveal, Ray’s Indoor Bike Park, 9801 Walford: Artist Eileen Dorsey joined with Ray Petro, owner of Ray’s Indoor Bike Park, to design a mural for the entrance to the bike park. A scene of an outdoor mountain bike path now greets guests to Ray’s Indoor…


  • Former Near West Side mail carrier sends greetings from his hike on the Appalachian Trail

    Former Near West Side mail carrier sends greetings from his hike on the Appalachian Trail Plain Press, July 20220                             While doing a 50 mile stretch on the Appalachian Trail with her partner Nicholas Morganti, Samantha Maloy encountered a former mail carrier from the Near West Side of Cleveland. The mail carrier named Erik Ault, said he…


  • John Marshall High School’s Girls’ Rugby Team

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Sunday, May 8, 2022; Girls Rugby Game between John Marshall High School and Medina High School, John Marshall High School field, 3952 W. 140th Street: John Marshall’s Girls’ Rugby team, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s first girls’ rugby team, gains experience in this competitive match. PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Sunday, May 8,…


  • City of Cleveland seeks National Park Service grant to develop park near the Clark Recreation Center

    (Plain Press, June 2022)                      City Council members Jenny Spencer, Kevin Bishop, Anthony Hairston and Blaine Griffin plan to introduce an emergency ordinance authorizing the Director of Public Works to apply for and acthcept a grant from the National Park Service for the purpose of developing a new city park to be located near the Clark Recreation Center.…


  • MetroHealth Park plans reviewed at community meetings

    MetroHealth Park plans reviewed at community meetings by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, May 2022        The temporary 3-acre park proposed by MetroHealth Medical Center for an area just across Scranton Road from its new Glick Center was the subject of a community meeting held at the Family Ministry Center on Fulton Road on April 6th. The meeting…


  • Resident urges Planning Commission to keep the Farnsworth House and Byelorussian Church as part of the MetroHealth Park

    Resident urges Planning Commission to keep the Farnsworth House and Byelorussian Church as part of the MetroHealth Park To the editor: Open letter to the Planning Commission: Plain Press, May 2022        I am writing to you in response to news I heard about MetroHealth’s plans to demolish three buildings between W. 25th St. and Scranton Rd.…


  • Four area schools slated for renovation or new construction

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Thursday, March 17, 2022; Marion Champlin Seltzer Elementary School Building, 1468 W. 98th Street: The Cleveland Metropolitan School District plans to build a new school next to the current building on land that sits behind Cudell Recreation Center. Once the new school is completed, plans call for the current building to be…


  • Near West Design Review Committee tables MetroHealth park proposal

    COMMUNITY INPUT SOUGHT TO DETERMINE FATE OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Sunday, March 19, 2022; St. Nicholas Belarusian Orthodox Church building, 3518 Scranton Road, SW: A proposal by neighborhood resident Bob Gardin seeks to save this building from demolition. MetroHealth medical center proposed to demolish the building as part of a plan to…


  • Merrick House celebrates reopening of newly refurbished gym and tech loft

    Merrick House celebrates reopening of newly refurbished gym and tech loft (Plain Press, March 2022)    Merrick House celebrated the reopening of its newly refurbished gym and tech loft on February 18th with a ribbon cutting ceremony, speeches, a live DJ, a slam dunk contest, and ball handling drills for the children. Merrick House in a press…